1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for judging a feature of a malignant tumor based on an analysis result obtained through analysis of protein of a tumor cell of the malignant tumor collected from a patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is conventionally known that feature of malignant tumor can be judged when an expression level of cyclin of malignant tumor cell is measured.
For example, according to the literature by Keyomarsi K. et al. (The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 347, No. 20, 2002, pages 1566-1575), an expression level of cyclin E is used in the prognosis of breast cancer. The literature by Keyomarsi K. reports that the expression level of the cyclin E in the tumor cell obtained from a breast cancer patient is measured, and a survival rate is low when the expression level of the cyclin E is high, in other words, a poor prognosis is exhibited. However, the malignant tumor in which the expression level of the cyclin E is low may be recurrent in some cases. Therefore, prognosis of the malignant tumor and judgment of a risk of recurrence thereof based on the expression level of the cyclin E is not accurate enough.
Further, according to the literature by Hisanori Kawamoto and colleagues (American Journal of Pathology, vol. 150, No. 1, 1997, pages 15-23), expression levels of a cyclin B1 and CDK1 in nonmalignant and malignant human breast lesions are measured. The literature by Hisanori Kawamoto and colleagues reports that the benign/premalignant lesions and the breast carcinomas can be discriminated from each other when the expression levels of the cyclin B1 and CDK1 are used. However, the relevant literature merely reporting the measurement of the expression levels of the cyclin B1 and CDK1 fails to include any recitation relating to a method for judging the feature of the malignant tumor such as the risk of recurrence thereof.